This mesmerising space is The Crystal Dome at Swarovski Kristallwelten (Crystal Worlds) – the company’s museum and headquarters located in Wattens in Austria. The Crystal Dome was specifically designed to capture the feeling of being inside a crystal. There are 595 mirrors that cover the dome’s walls, creating a kaleidoscope of shifting shapes, reflections and colours, that gradually reveal hidden works of art…

These super beautiful and elegant wall and floor sculptures by Graz-born Vienna-based Tillman Kaiser are from the artist’s recent solo show titled ‘The Truth And The Abstract Blues’ held at the Wilkinson Gallery in London. I am a huge fan of the multilayered techniques used in some of the pieces – they are such a lovely combination of intricately painted canvas and cardboard, interesting patterns and complex geometries…

It is not that often one can see a building which challenges the conventional to this extent. I mean, I personally always thought that curtains belonged on the inside of buildings, but Austrian practice Hertl Architekten clearly had a moment that went a little something like this – “Dude, I’m bored. Let’s do something fun and totally whack. Ok, how about we wrap this building in fabric… No? You reckon it won’t work? But who says that curtains always have to be on the inside of the building? Let’s play decorators and chuck some fabric on the outside…” Are they simply a bunch of frustrated interior designers? Perhaps. But what a result. Who would have thought that exterior curtains would look this good? Certainly not me…

Ok, can I just say wow. And I mean WOW!!
I’m kind of speechless here actually. This project completely blew me away. In fact I’ve been looking at it for over a week before I got around to blogging about it. I just had to savour it for a little bit.

I can’t even begin to explain how much this setting reminds me of my childhood and houses where my grandparents and my uncles, aunties and cousins used to live, and some of them still do. It makes me feel all emotional and crazy nostalgic in fact. To see this ultra sharp, modern architectural pavilion married to a traditional rural setting is simply mind blowing to me. It’s as though a UFO has landed, and I’m waiting for E.T. to come out and play. And at the same time it just works so, so well…